SpaceX ensured this Tuesday the launch of a solar sail designed by Gama, a French start-up.

The space nanosatellite was installed in a Falcon 9 rocket bound for low Earth orbit, reports

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This mission, called “Gama Alpha”, is the first for the tricolor company.

The solar sail, made up of four trapezoids of 20 m², measures a total of 73 m² when deployed.

Gama's technicians painstakingly assembled it by hand before sending it 550 km above the Earth.


Launch of the Gama Alpha solar sail aboard SpaceX's Falcon9 https://t.co/IxeUujZN17 pic.twitter.com/DETKVz3Cgw

— Marion (@MlleMarionBou) January 5, 2023

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The sail advances thanks to solar particles

The originality of this solar sail is its propulsion.

At this altitude, in the absence of air, it cannot count on the wind to move forward.

The space object therefore propels itself by using the solar particles which smash against its walls to move around the Earth.

Usually, satellites are equipped with an electrical or chemical mode of propulsion.

The purpose of this first Gama mission is to test the efficiency of its propulsion system, which saves on the weight of the object and increases its longevity.



The next mission will aim to place a similar solar sail in high orbit and will take place in 2023 or 2024. As early as 2025, another mission could leave for Venus in 2025, with a larger solar sail (400 to 500 m²) and a load of about twenty kilos.

Another mission to the Oort cloud, 0.8 light-years from Earth, is also planned for 2035.


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